Because of Mr Bonnefoy
by Vladabean
Summary: It was in a quiet subway station in early December, 1945. Francis bonnefoy simply stood by himself listening to nothing but the faint sounds of people talking and the noises of rats. He never thought he would be spending the rest of his life with Arthur Kirkland, a man who simply lived on the streets. trigger warning with multiple triggers. may be innacurate or crappy so I'm sorry
1. chapter 1

Francis came down the stairs of a dark subway station. He just stood there, waiting for the train to come so he could pick up his sister from the airport. He listened to the faint sounds of people talking and the small noises the rats made. It was rather early in the morning, so nobody was awake yet. He heard the faint sounds of running, but he thought nothing of it. But then he heard gunshots. He straightened up a bit. He was always a good fighter, but he was scared to show his strength. He was just a hopeless romantic always stuck with coffee and a romance novel. A man ran past him and ducked in the alleyway. Another man looked around after coming into view. "Did you see a blonde man in a pathetic excuse for a coat?" A brunette man asked. "No." Francis said. if anything, the blonde was hiding. "What did he do that was so bad that you are willing to chase him down for?" The brunette sighed. "He stole some food. I couldn't care less if he's homeless or not. I'm just doing my job." Francis reached into his satchel and pulled out some cash. "This should pay for it. Now go stop some kids from painting that staircase blue." The man went over to the kids, while Francis went into the alley. "Are you a-ah!" Arthur hugged him. "Thank you sir...thank you so much..." "You're welcome." Francis smiled. "Are you alright?" "Yes, thank you." "You may call me Francis. Francis Bonnefoy. And you?" "Arthur Kirkland, sir." Francis, seeing he had instantly fell for Arthur, remembered the project he was working on for a man. "Come with me...I'm meeting my sister at the airport, and then bringing her home. I would like to try...an expirament." Arthur was shocked. "Are you taking me off the streets?" "yes, I am..." "Don't be a wanker, I just met you!" "I just saved your life." No further discussion. After taking his sister home, Francis took Arthur to his house. It was no house. It was a mansion. they walked inside. "I'm home." He said happily. A dirty blonde man with a cowlick dressed in a suit walked down. "Sir! You're home! Who is this?" "Our fixer upper." The man got the idea. Francis smiled. "Alfred, could you give Arthur here a bath, please?" "Yes sir!" Francis went to his desk and took some notes. He went to the kitchen. "Ludwig, Feliciano, Yao?" they looked up from their game of poker. "I need you three to try your best to make a rather large dinner. I brought our fixer upper home." they nodded and got to work. Francis was always kind to his staff. They loved working for him for that reason. He was so nice. He was firm when he had to be, but other than that rare occasion he was usually calm and kind. only two members of the staff have seen him upset. Antonio, the gardener, who had walked in on him firing a man for terribly mistreating Elizabeta, the head maid, and then Gilbert, the 2and to head butler when Francis was crying harshly because his wife, Joan, had passed away from murder. He walked past the room which held a piano he hadn't played in years. But he heard music. He walked in, to see Roderich, the head butler playing. He stopped once he saw his boss. "Sir, I-" "It was beautiful. I just wanted to let you know." Francis chuckled and walked out. He went to see if Alfred and Arthur were done. They were, so Francis handed Arthur an old suit. "It may be a bit big, but I'm taking you out to find some that fit properly." he explained with a smile. Arthur thanked him as they headed to the car. They came back a bit later at 5:00 sharp. Dinner was always at 7:15. "Gilbert, please show Arthur to his room." as always, he said it with a smile. "Arthur. You make yourself at home and settle in. I'll just be making a phonecall." Francis went to his desk and picked up the phone. "Mr. Braginsky speaking." a thick, Russian accent. "I found our fixer upper! I found him, and I think he'll do grand..." "you think so? I am counting on seeing the progress." Francis hung up the phone and cheered. This was the one time he was truly confident. He never let his buisness parter down, but this time, Francis actually cared. This time, it wasn't taxes or mail. It was a lifetime experience. The staff had never seen him so happy. it was the first time mr. Braginsky had approved of a project. Elizabeta looked at him. "What happened, sir?" "ok, I need you to act for me. Act very solumn, and gather the staff in the meeting room. Act like I'm about to fire everyone, and then I will tell them the truth!" he whispered in her ear. "He actually approved!?" she hissed. Francis nodded. "I will be waiting." he smiled and went to the meeting room. The staff gathered inside. "Now...as you can tell, I have news." Francis stated. "MR. BRAGINSKY APPROVED!" the staff cheered. They were the ones to help him come up with the idea. They had dinner and then went to bed. The next morning, Arthur would be interviewed and whatnot.

Back in an old, abandoned factory...

A small group of men were sitting together. Alistair, Angus, Dylan, Jack, and William Kirkland. They were all a bit tough and a little reckless, but, these were the people Arthur called family. "Oi." William stated to the others. "Where's Arthur been?" Dylan sighed. "That's a good question." Jack put Angus down after trying to win a bet over who was stronger. "If anything, the police caught him." Alistair sighed. "We'll see him in the morning. Come on, let's get to bed. We're still alive and even if we're all grown now, I'm still raising you all just because I can. Now go to sleep." they went to bed. But about seeing Arthur in the morning, they weren't wrong. The next morning, a man in a suit came to their "home". That man was Arthur. Alistair looked up and called everyone over. "Hello, Alistair." Arthur said, smiling. "Arthur Kirkland, you had better explain yourself." Francis walked over. "He is staying with me for a while. He wanted to make sure you didn't worry about him." Arthur hugged his brothers. "Listen. I'll explain everything soon, just not now. I'll be back alright?" they all told him goodbye, and he was off. This was going to be a bit hard, but they would manage. His brothers were tough.

AN: I hope you guys enjoyed it! It's a cross over with Hetalia and My Fair Lady. If you haven't seen My Fair Lady, well spoilers then. You should watch it, it's pretty good. old, but good! I'll try to keep updating every time I finish a chapter. This one makes no sense, but since when do my stories make sense!? Have a wonderful day, my good river chickens!


	2. chapter 2

Chapter 2: If anything, Francis decided to first work on Arthur's english. Then ettiquite. Then he would improvise. But before any of that could happen, he needed to give arthur a haircut. It was long enough to get in the way, but too short to put up. after breakfast, Arthur got that haircut and then Matthew, a staff member, would help with the english. Roderich worked with him on ettiquite. After that, everything was finished, so Francis took Arthur out for dinner after making something for the staff, giving them the night off.

At dinner...

"Arthur, how is everything going so far?" Francis asked him. "Very well. Your employees are so kind and patient. They seem so happy too." Francis smiled. "I treat them just like I would a friend. But here's the catch. They are my friends!" Arthur blushed a good shade of crimson. "Francis?" "Yes?" "Thank you for everything you're doing..." (It's now or never Francis!) Francis looked at him. "I saw a look in your eyes the day we met two months ago...that look was calling out for help. I decided to help you. I saw a great potential in you, but it wasn't being put to use." He said. "Arthur, I know this isn't too common, and I know that many people disapprove of this, but-" Gunshots. "Come on." "What's wrong, Francis?" "You'll discover soon enough." They went home, and Arthur went to bed. Francis stayed up, talking with Feliciano and Ludwig, who were experts at his situation. "How do I tell him?" Feliciano sighed. "All you have to do is say you love him." Ludwig blushed. "F-Feli! It was harder than that! Anyway, what stopped you tonight?" "Remember when we found out that people wanted to kill me, for no specific reason? Back when I was still in my Teen years..." "They found you!?" Feli and Lud replied. "Oui...Arthur and I are safe, I promise..." "What's going to happen if they find us?" "If they find us, you won't get hurt." Francis smiled. "Well, if anything is about to happen, it'll be us going to bed, oui?" Ludwig smiled at his boyfriend, and then at Francis. "He's one step ahead of you..." He picked the Italian up off the floor. That night, Francis lay awake. He was going to tell him soon...just...it was 1945, and he was nervous, and they had only met about two months ago. He couldn't sleep, so he just stayed awake, staring off into the moonlight. Turned out Arthur couldn't sleep either. "Francis..." "Yes? What's wrong?" "Why would anyone want to kill you?" Francis' heart dropped into his stomach. "How much did you hear?" Arthur panicked. "I was walking to see if I could speak to you, but I heard you speaking and when I got closer to knock, I was able to make some things out. I heard you speaking about people wanting to murder you." Francis sighed. "A few years back, I rubbed a terribly angry man the wrong way. I was as drunk as anyone could be, and I...rubbed him the wrong way, shall we put it. And a week later, I was pinned against a wall, with a knife to my throat. one of the men said they were all working for a man named Romano Vargas." "What did you do?" "I'd rather not talk about it. Now, what was it you wanted to tell me?" Arthur blushed. "Well, I-" There was a blood curdling scream. They ran down to see Ludwig crying over a body. But it wasn't any old body. Feliciano Vargas had been murdered. Francis saw a note and read it. "My brother is only a fraction of an example of what will happen if you don't hand it over, Francis. That file was going to turn me into a different man. But, if you want everyone in that stupid mansion to die, then by all means keep it. -R.V." He questioned the entire moment. Why Feli? He hadn't done a thing wrong in his life! They called the police and after everything was cleared up. Nobody slept well that night, but Francis and Arthur tried to keep calm. They never confessed to each other, leaving them both clueless of their feelings for each other. if things could stop happening. interruptions could cease. it would be easy. but they knew that there was more to come. Everyone got up and had breakfast, and nothing too interesting had happened that day. Francis made a few calls and he got his paperwork done. Then, he went and ran some errands with Arthur, and then they came back home to a surprise. Yao, Matthew and Alfred came running downstairs. "FRANCIS, SIR! We have news!" "Well what is it?" "Roderich finally proposed!" Francis smiled. "Well it's about time he married Elizabeta." Matthew looked over to the basement door. "Ludwig's still locked himself in there. I hope he's alright..." Alfred and Yao had tried everything to get him out. If anything, Ludwig wouldn't come back until next week. Francis sighed. "Well, just give him some time. He'll come out when he's ready. He just loved Feli so much. he was planning to propose last night. Gilbert and Antonio came downstairs, looking a bit shaken. "They're...I...we...things...how..." Gilbert said. Antonio looked at the group. "Roderich and Liza are going a little crazy up there so just...you know." Gilbert looked at the basement door. "Is he still down there?" the group nodded and then they walked off. Gilbert went to the door. "hey, Ludwig ... ich bin's ... dein Bruder. komm schon raus, alle sind so besorgt. Ich bin wirklich traurig über Feliciano. Ich weiß, dass du ihn so sehr liebst ... komm einfach raus. zumindest etwas essen ... komm bitte." if nothing else would work this could possibly do it. Nothing. Gilbert sighed. "Ich leibe dich, bruder." he started to walk off. Then the door opened. He stopped. "Ludwig?" Ludwig came over and hugged him tightly. "Ich leibe dich auch, bruder. Ich leibe dich auch." they stood there for twenty minutes or so, and then they went for dinner. Everyone had a clear expression of shock as they saw that Gilbert had coaxed his brother out of the basement. If anything could happen, Ludwig would eat something and get some good rest. But, that would take a miracle. Roderich came down, looking a mess, yet very happy. He was carrying his new fiance and she looked even worse. "Roddy, you were-" Francis stopped her, quickly saying, "well everyone! Look, here they are!" Roderich nearly dropped Elizabeta when he saw Ludwig and Gilbert hugging. "Gilbert, how'd you get Lud out?" Gilbert smiled. "Simple, bruder. Mother tounge. It works every time with our family." Roderich set Elizabeta down to go join his brothers for one of those stupid, sappy family moments. Then, they had dinner. "Any hope with Romano?" Elizabeta asked. Francis smiled. "Actually, yes. I've got an idea." the room was silent. Arthur broke the silence. "Well, spit it out, chap." Francis looked dead at Antonio. the spaniard started sweating a bit. "Y-yes, s-sir?" Francis smiled. "Antonio, you're the best one at laying low. You don't have to do this, but it ought to help. Could you go undercover as a buisness man and find out anything you can?" Antonio smirked. "Childsplay." everyone smiled. Maybe this could work...maybe they would survive

A/N: ok, yummy! it's turning into a mystery and becoming nothing like the crossover said! oopsy daisy, silly me! yes, the plot will thicken, and I'm sorry for killing off Feliciano! Yes. I killed your child. but they'll all avenge him some how! and I feel bad for making Romano evil, but I couldn't think of anyone else! but guess what! I'm gonna give y'all a seisure from how many relationships there are in this story. well, gotta yeet. BYE HOMIES!


	3. chapter 3

Chapter 3: Francis and Arthur had been walking around town for a while. After a minute ar so, Arthur heard gunshots. "Francis, come on. They found us." they ran to an alleyway thinking they would be safe, but...to a not so great surprise, there he was. Romano Vargas, stroking his gun. He spit out some piece of tomato and started walking twards Francis. "Hasta la vista, frenchie." He pointed his gun, and shot. Quickly too. But Francis was still standing, no pain felt. He shook, knowing what happened. Romano had ran as soon as he fired his gun, and he didn't realize Francis was alright. "A-Arthur?" he felt tears burning. Arthur was still alive, but in so much pain. Francis picked Arthur up and ran home. "Hello s-SIR! WHAT HAPPENED?" Elizabeta asked. "Arthur's been shot. I need Matthew down here. He's our best chance." there was no doubt Matthew Williams was the best in the medical field. A few hours later, Arthur woke up in his room, Feeling a sharp pain in his chest. "You're awake...how are you feeling?" Francis had never moved until Arthur had woken up. "Like something's stabbing the left side of my chest constantly." Francis smiled. "That should wear off in just a few hours, mon ami." Arthur sighed, trying to get up, but Francis forced him to lay back down. "You should probably stay there for a while." Arthur sighed again, knowing this would be a long while. Francis had gone down to get some dinner for him and he brought it back up. "Are you alright alone? I would stay, but I have to finish up a bit of paperwork and make some calls." "yes, thank you." Francis left. Arthur laughed quietly. "Rich people..." Francis came downstairs to tell the others the full story. "Well, what happened?" Gilbert asked. They all came into Francis's office (of course Roderich was carrying Elizabeta) wondering what the real story was. Francis looked at them, dead faced. "Romano Vargas. Toni, you're going undercover tomorrow." "yes sir." they sighed. "We'll never know what you did to him. It would help the investigation." Elizabeta said. Ludwig walked out, with a rifle. "Ludwig! Where are you going!?" Alfred asked. His quiet brother turned to him. "Al, he's going to go find Romano. He's had enough. Especially after the first kill." Matthew said. Roderich set Elizabeta down and held his crying brother. "Gilbert, bruder's going to be fine. He's the best shot in the mansion." Antonio looked around. "Where's Yao?" just as the spaniard said it, Yao came in the door. But he was in the arms of Ivan Braginsky. Francis's eyes widened atleast ten times their size. "Mr. Braginsky...h-hello! Can I get you a glass of whine?" Ivan smiled. "No thank you. Yao-Yao and I have something to tell you." Yao nodded and smiled. "We've been in a secret relationship for a while!" everyone was shocked. "Ok. Elephant in the room! How does-" Yao jumped down and slapped him and jumped back into Ivan's arms. "AIYAA! Don't try me, aru." Francis just walked off to Arthur's room. "Arthur?" Arthur looked like he was going to pass any minute. "It hurts so bad..." Francis hugged him, careful of the bandages and stiches. "Well, you were shot. Of course it's going to hurt." he said, laughing. Arthur fell asleep pretty quickly and then Francis went to bed. "Ivan and Yao..." he mumbled, wondering how that would work.

...Flashback... (five years ago, when Francis was 20 years old.)

A cold night in a bar, Francis had six too many glasses of whine. he had forgotten the government files in his posession were supposed to be kept secret. He had been flirting with 27 year old Romano Vargas, and the Frenchman went completely ballistic. Romano had tried to get a hold of the files, but Francis kept that one bit of sense left. He was walking out of the bar a few minutes later, being supported by Antonio and Gilbert who were sober, and folding up the files and putting them in his pocket.

(Skip to next week)

He had simply been walking around town when A man pinned him up against the wall, holding a knife to Francis's throat. "We want the file." the man glared. Five or six more men came up behind him. Francis was too scared to count. If anything, all he could do was pray. "No, I don't have it." Francis said. The man cut his neck. Francis was sure the men worked for Romano. They were merciless and demanding. "Let me try this again. Give us-" "NO!" Francis interrupted. The man cut his throat some more and stabbed him in his chest a few times. The man somehow slipped and Francis ran. He didn't care how much it hurt. He got home and passed out, waking up two days later with bandages on, and Matthew stroking his hair.

"Francis? Francis." Francis snapped back into reality. "Yes! Sorry Arthur...I spaced out, I'm so sorry..." Arthur smiled. "Good, I was just checking if you were alive. I-I wanted to tell you something..." he blushed. Just then, there were some noises that sounded like fighting. "STAY STILL!" A heavily german accented voice was heard. They ran downstairs with Francis being topless and everyone a bit shaken. Ludwig had a man in a headlock. "This was the man who killed Feli. It may not be Romano himself, but we can get some dirt out of him." Ludwig said. Everyone reluctantly agreed. They tied him up and...well, no progress. Ludwig let his temper get ahead of him and, well another day, Another death. Francis just took Arthur to his room. "Do you want to stay here until they're done with their situation down there?" Arthur asked. Francis smiled. "That would be great, thank you." He came over and got next to Arthur. "I have something to tell you." he said. Arthur blushed. "I have something to tell you as well..." Francis looked him in the eye. "Let's say it together." 1...2...3. "I love you." they both stared at eachother in shock. "You..." "we..." "I..." they hugged an decided to call it an official relationship. They broke a glass to make it look like they were fighting, and then they went down, blank faced. Everyone was staring. 'They were fighting...' everyone thought. Then, Francis and Arthur kissed. Right there. In front of Eliza, Roderich, Yao, Gilbert, Antonio, Ludwig, Alfred, and Matthew. Nobody moved, and nobody judged. Alfred and Matthew smirked. "WE KNEW IT!" being twins, they could always tell what the other was thinking. So, naturally, they had made a whole scrap book about Francis and Arthur. Yao fell on the floor and screeched. "AIYAA! SCREW EVERYTHING THIS IS MY NEW OTP I'M DYING HELP THE YAOI!!!!!!!!!!"

A/N: ok so they FINALLY confessed to eachother. yes, I made you wait. and admit it. you were wherever you were, and you kicked and screamed until they confessed. yes you did. you-SHUT UP YOU KNOW YOU DID SO GO HOME AND CRY TO YOUR TEDDY BEAR YOU LITTLE TREE BRANCH! ahem. anyway, I hope you enjoyed your snack, chapter 4 is coming.


	4. chapter 4

Francis and Arthur were officially out of the closet. "Well, bollocks...this escalated quickly..." Francis smiled at him. "Well, atleast we were honest, oui?" "but-" Francis rubbed the brit's shoulders. "Relax, mon cheri...you're so tense..." Arthur just pulled the frenchman on his lap. "Love like this is so rare..." they kissed again and Francis pulled off of him and in turn, the brit got on top of him. Francis laughed softly. "I never realised how short you are..." Arthur blushed. "I-I'm not short! You're just really tall." Fancis hugged him. "Whatever you want to believe, mon ami." Arthur sighed. "Sure." they kissed and left, going to bed. But they both lay awake that night, thinking about eachother. if anything, they'd stay together and get married as long as most of society never found out. The next day, Arthur went to see his brothers. "Hello?" "ARTHUR!" they shouted, hugging him. "I have some news for all of you." Arthur said, smiling. "Well, spit it out laddie!" Alistair said. Arthur smiled even more. "I found a lover! But you can't tell anyone." "why?" Angus asked. "Is she part of a secret organization?" William asked. "not a she. I'm dating Francis." Arthur said. Jack smiled. "Brother, why'd you say it so reluctantly?" Dylan hugged his little brother, completely forgetting his strength. "we love you anyway, Artie! It's not wrong, just uncommon!" (in 1945. This is 20 trucking 18.) Arthur smiled, but was suffocated. "I'm...glad you...accept...me. Dylan...don't you remember?" "oh, right sorry! You ok?" "yeah." Alistair smiled. "I'm happy you told us the truth." Arthur remembered the food he brought. "Oh! Right. I brought you all something." he handed them all a large piece of cornbread, a small salad in one of those containers, and some chicken. They hadn't had a decent meal in years. Usually they had to dumpster dive, steal, save up for a resturaunt, or worst of all, kill street animals and cook them over a sorry excuse for a fire. "It's probably the last meal you'll get for a while. Francis made it himself." He hugged his brothers and left. He had been walking back to his temporary home when he blacked out. He woke up, tied to a metal bar in a dark room. He felt some pain in his head and stomach, and he couldn't feel his left leg, but felt extreme pain at the same time. "It's about time you woke up, idiota. I called that stupid frenchman. He's giving me a ransom. the file, and a few billion dollars." Romano stabbed him once in the shoulder and went back to. the shadows that he dared to call his office. There was a few minutes of silence, when the sound of someone breaking the door down was heard. "ROMANO! WHERE ARE YOU!?" 9 voices were heard. Arthur knew those voices. Francis and his crew. they ran down to the basement. Elizabeta had her frying pan, Roderich had a knife, Ludwig held Feliciano's hand gun, Antonio, Francis, and Gilbert had their rifles, Alfred had a baseball bat, Matthew had a bloody hockey stick, and Yao had his beloved wok. They all looked over at Matthew caressing the stick. "Oh god, it's hockey season." Alfred said. Roderich cut Arthur free and Elizabeta smacked Romano and Ludwig tied the Italian up. Alfred and Matthew took care of Romano's gang along with Antonio and Gilbert. Francis and Yao were treating Arthur's wounds. Once they were all finished, they got out of there, Francis carrying Arthur. Alfred, Antonio, Elizabeta, Gilbert, Ludwig, Matthew, and Roderich took Romano to the basement. Yao bandaged the stab wounds and took care of the broken leg. Francis went and got some ice for Arthur's head and some crutches. (He still had his crutches from when he fell from a tree in attempt to kill himself to be with Joan [his wife that was murdered] after she died.) Antonio came back up. "Francis, I forgot to tell you what I was told when I went undercover." "go ahead." "I have one word to sum it up. Mafia. They aren't just after you, they want a whole bunch of government information. And money. they're after quite a few billionaires. Some are Kiku Honda from Japan, Vash and Lily swingli from Switzerland, and even Ivan Braginsky and his two sisters, Natalya and Yekaterina." Francis tilted his head. "Why would he even try to go after Mr. Braginsky? His methods are so advanced! He'd kill anyone in an instant if he felt like he had to." "that's not all. They'll end up kidnapping you and getting information to track you wherever you go. They got everyone exept you and Mr. Braginsky. They're giving up on Mr. Braginsky, and you're next." Francis sighed. "As long as I'm the only one who gets hurt. I don't want you or any of the others to get hurt. Especially you, Gil, or Arthur." Antonio looked at him. "They only want you. They're only killing us one at a time as a warning." as if it were a que, another blood curdling scream was heard. "Gilbert!" they said, realizing what happened. They rushed downstairs to see Ludwig and Roderich hugging eachother, with their dead older brother in their arms. "NO!" Francis came over to them. "Is he really..." the germans looked at him. "Ja..." the frenchman felt tears burning. He had known Gil for so long. Antonio picked up the note. "Oopsy! Another one bites the dust! Boo hoo, now who will carry you home when you get drunk, Frenchie? I'm only want some money and the file. That's all! For now, I'll let you be, and then strike again. Ciao! -RV" he read. "HEY! that was one time!" Francis looked up. "I'm gonna find him..." and again, the police came and everything was chaos for a bit. Then they decided to call it a night and go to bed. For the hundreth time, Francis lay awake. "I need to get rid of that file..." but he would worry about that that tomorrow, in the meeting.

A/N: STUPIDSTUPIDSTUPID!!!! NAUGHTY ME! GO TO YOUR CORNER YOU EVIL LITTLE... _THING!_ HEARTLESS LIL SATAN SPAWN, KILLING OFF GILBERT!!! all I gotta say is sorry for killing your snowbaby.


	5. chapter 5

If anything, Kiku, the Braginsky siblings, the swinglis, and some group called the baltic trio would be there at the meeting. "We need some backup!" Kiku suggested. The baltic trio, Eduard, Toris, and Raivis, finally walked in. "Mon dieu..." Francis said, shocked. He wasn't the only one. "We all love some flashy sisters..." someone said, breaking the silence. "SHUT UP YEKATERINA! WE ALL LOVE BIG BROTHER EVEN MORE!!!" And then Yekaterina and Natalya got in a fight and Ivan fell on the floor and screeched. Then the girls ran out of the room. "well...that was eventful, да?" The others agreed with him. "As I was saying, we need backup." Kiku said. "That's going to be so expensive!" Vash replied. "Bruder, please." Lili smacked him lightly. Francis looked the Swiss man dead in the eyes. "Mr. Swingli, your cousin is dead. Does that attract any mind to the situation at hand?" Vash started tearing up. He loved his family. He treated his cousins like brothers. But he always favoured his little sister. "What?" He asked with his voice wavering. "Which one?" He said, openly crying for the first time...ever. Lili was the only one who had ever seen him cry. That was when she woke up after being kidnapped by Romano and used as bait for Vash. Francis was tearing up himself. "Gilbert..." Vash went completely white. "No...NO!" Gilbert had raised Roderich, Ludwig, himself (a little bit.), and Vash (before he grew up and then picked Lili off the streets.) "Bruder?" Lili ventured. "Come on." Francis said, taking him out of the meeting room. "Listen, I felt the same way when my parents died. And it'll be hard for a while. But things will start to lighten up. I promise." "He raised me, Francis. And now, he's dead. Things only get worse and worse. Ever since that one day when I nearly lost Lili. Everyone always says things are going to get better...but they haven't. When are they gonna lighten up, huh?" He got himself together, and walked back into the meeting room with his usual neutral expression. Lili wanted to say something, but she stopped herself. 'Have you lost your mind?!' She scolded herself. 'Bruder's not in the mood.' "I know a guy...well, a few guys." Ivan said. The others stared at him. The baltic trio had been so quiet. a bit too quiet. Everyone assumed they were always like this. "Ice-Wolves, they call themselves. Mathias Kølher, Lukas Bondevik, Emil Steilsson, Berwald Oxenstierna, and the gang leader, Tino Väinämoimen. They'll help us any day, any time. Especially if it bennefits them in some way." Vash stood up, slamming a fist on the table. "1. We are NOT about to help or be helped, by a GANG. 2. I know that Mathias guy. Sure, he's nice, but he's crazy and he can NOT be trusted. And 3. I-" Lili was done. "Oh, will you CALM DOWN, bruder!? Just sit down, shut up, and for GOD'S SAKE WILL YOU RELAX ALREADY!? I'm so tired of your temper, and the fact that you shop like some old lady! 'This is to expensive! That costs way too much! A pencil for a dollar!? You must be stoned or something!' And your stupid guns! Don't get me started! Oh! And will you stop thinking that I'm so pure and stuff!? Well don't walk around the place thinking that I never heard you that one night! You don't just bring street chicks home and into the bed! Honestly, after living on the streets, I had the smallest amount of mental purity left. But then that night ruined the last of my innocence." Everyone was shocked. Lili Swingli, little seven year old Lili Swingli had just let out her true self. (Ooh TEA! Vash, mah boi, the deamons you have right now...oof!) "Lili Swingli! What did I-" "oh my god SHUT. UP. Just calm down, geezer." And with that, he sat down. "All in favor of those Ice-Wolves boys helping us. Everyone said aye. Exept vash, but MAJORITY RULES! So, Ivan called them up.

A/N: I'm sorry it's so short but it won't kill ya. gangsta Lili!!! honestly, Vash is more of a father than a brother in my opinion, but I didn't want to anger the fandom. the next few chapters are gonna be just the Nordics/Ice-Wolves (like the gang name I picked for them!?) and then Francis's backstory. by the way, if you want, Mixing Bowl of Cultures is up for adoption. I've just kinda lost my motivation to continue it after realizing all the political stuff and then I remembered all peeps have different political views, and I don't wanna start anything, alright? if you do then whatever ices your cake, ok? just somehow ask and then I'll try to work it out with you, homie.


	6. chapter 6

Oh will you shut up, Mathias!?" Berwald and Tino were yet again in another argument with their roommates. "Well, I'm just saying! You guys need to chill at night. We're tired of hearing national geographic coming from your room!" Lukas said. "Guys, remember that we owe easter Pete a favour. Peter Kirkland doesn't just break us out of prison so easily." Tino remembered. "Wait, wasn't it holding?" Emil asked. "NO! wait actually..." Mathias said. "Guys, chill out. What's for breakfast?" Berwald asked. Tino, Lukas, and Emil gave eachother the death stare. "BLOOD PANCAKES!" "FISH!" "BUTTER!" they stared at Lukas. He had never said anything when this happened. Tino and Emil usually just fought it out, and Lukas just sorta hung back with a stick of good ol' butter. "Butter?" Mathias asked. Berwald threw his arms in the air. "I'm done cooking! Mathias calls me the swedish chef all the time anyway! You wanna eat? MAKE IT YOURSELF! come on babe." He said aknowlaging Tino. "Let's go get some take out or something. You three sort it out. Sure, Tino's always part of it, but he's my wife." "BERWALD!" "And I favour him. Because that's what a good husband does." "Well actually-" "SHUT UP MATHIAS!!!" they cut him off. And then the swede took the fin and left. Emil looked at his roommates. "So...anybody know how to cook herring?" "Nope." Lukas said. "Welp." They looked at eachother. "Maybe there's some anchoves in the fridge. We can butter 'em up and bam. There you go." Mathias ventured, attempting to keep the peace. "OH GOOD GREIF! guys, we were supposed to hit up the subway this morning. Come on. Lukas, go get Tino and Berwald. Meet us at the station around the corner." Emil said. "Roger that." his brother replied. "Let's go, boys." They got down to the subway and there was hardly anyone there. They got into an empty subway car and hoped nobody would get in with them. They had some good luck that morning though, seeing nobody was awake yet at four in the morning. "We better pray we get to Mr. Braginsky's on time. He sounded like he's got a big deal for us." "Ooh! Spicy." Emil, Lukas, Berwald and Tino looked at the Dane. "SHEAUT. EAUP." Mathias sighed and looked around. "Well, this is our stop." Tino said. They left the good old subway station, and rushed inside Mr. Braginsky's building. "Привет, gentlemen." They sat down. "Are you in anyway familiar with Francis Bonnefoy, Kiku Honda, Vash and Lili Swingli, and The Baltic Trio?" They looked at him and they told him that Mathias had met with the Swinglis. Berwald was good friends with Kiku, and so was Emil. Lukas had never heard of any of them. Tino was pretty much best friends with Eduard, and friends with Toris and Raivis. Ivan looked at them grimly. "Now, I'm sure that you have heard of Romano Vargas and the mafia. Correct?" Emil looked at him with the same dead expression as always. "With all due respect, sir, you don't keep up with the paper, hm. Do you want to know how many gang fights we've been in with the mafia!? We've been after each other for years, and we're the only gang in all of France, let alone Europe that can manage to fight them off without so much as a small bruise." Mr. Braginsky smiled. "Would you like some fortune?" Lukas started sweating a bit and smiling like a mad man. This happened at every mention of money. "You know we would..." he said. "Now, now, Lukas...you have to work for money, don't you?" He let his sense of humour kick in and he put on a preist's uniform. "May you bless and keep the mafia...far away from us. Especially Francis. They're after his blood and they're killing his staff one by one as a warning." Tino had to be restrained by Berwald and the rest of the gang. "I'll finally be able to put my new babies to use, eh?" "Not yet Tino!"

A/N: so we now know the toughest gang in europe! welp, I'm sorry this story is freakin messed up and I know that I'm probably giving you guys demons, but at the same time it's fun to torture people. heHE!


	7. chapter 7

It had been a few decent months since Francis picked up Arthur from the streets. Now that everything was finished, Arthur had no money to his name...YET. (Francis, if you don't marry that man I will have a fit like a little child. Having someone call you love, and always caring for you, plus that accent I mean DANG!) But you could rather easily mistake Arthur to be a man with more money to his name than Francis himself, who was the wealthiest known man at the time. Roderich, Mathew, Francis, and Ludwig had taught him well. But...from the looks of it, Francis would propose soon. It had been a few weeks since the meeting, and Francis was sitting at his desk, finishing up the very last of his paperwork, and then he got a phone call. "Francis Bonnefoy speaking." "Francis! I need your advice at the very least." Francis was struck with worry when he heard Lili's voice. She sounded so worried... "yes? Lili, what's bothering you, child?" He asked, trying to keep calm. "Ok, so Vash seemed really depressed over Gilbert, and we got home and he sat on the couch and cried. That's normal. I personally just wasn't sad, because I never really knew Gilbert." "Yes..." Francis wasn't sure he liked where this was going. "Well, I don't think Vash is ok. He hasn't eaten or slept in days. I'm just so worried about-" the phone dropped. "Lili? Lili!" He set the phone down and ran out of his office. "Something's wrong with the Swinglis." The whole staff looked up. "Say no more." Luckily, getting there would be easy. Francis lived near the border between France and Switzerland. The Swinglis just so happened to live near that border as well. They got there and of course, it was a trap. Vash was tied up in a chair, with Romano behind him, holding a gun, and they could hear faint screams of pain from another room. "You all help Vash. I'll go find Lili." Francis said, running off. Romano didn't even have a fraction of his mafia with him. This would be tough, but Francis Bonnefoy always taught his staff how to defend themselves. The staff took care of the mafia while Francis was running from room to room, searching for Lili. "please...I don't know what we did..." Lili's voice was unmistakable. Francis burst into the room. "Don't you know better than to abuse a minor?" He growled. The man simply shoved Lili down before coming up to Francis. "So. Mr. Bonnefoy. In the flesh...to bad to see that flesh go to waste. I would have personally enjoyed grab-" Francis held the man in a choke hold. "You killed one of my best friends and then laughed about it with your little gang. Well, guess what. It's time to pay." He said, unleashing his temper. "I'm sorry to make you see this, Lili." Francis mused, winking. With his free hand, he held his hand gun to the man's head. "Another day...another death." He helped Lili up and smiled. "They should be finishing up by now. Let's go get your brother, shall we?" Lili smiled. "Thank you." They went and got the others and headed to Francis's place. "You two can stay here for a bit if you'd like." Francis offered. "Thank you." Vash said. "Do you know if Ivan got with...his associates?" Francis shook his head. He decided to go see if Arthur was awake, which the brit was, in fact he was reading a book. He knocked, so he wouldn't give the man a heart attack. "Yes Francis?" Francis like always. "Have you thought about letting your brothers move in? Or I could at least get them into an apartment." Arthur's face lit up. "Thank you...I'm not sure they'd be fine, living here, but they would surely appreciate a proper home. Especially Dillan and William." Francis kissed him. "I'm so happy to help." They hugged and Francis went to go speak with Mr. Braginsky. Arthur smiled. "I'll end up marrying him...I'm sure of it."

A/N: ok, I'm sorry for the wait. I'm a lil crap who finishes chapters and waits far too long to publish them. I have a big surprise for ya in chapter 8 so be patient. I'm almost done with it so I may publish today. I will take requests for new chapters after a while so go ahead and leave a review with a request. remember that you are beautiful and are valued more than the flavour of ginger ale! I love ya.


	8. chapter 8

Chapter 8:

My dearest Joan,

I have decided that I need to get up and get to work. The only progress I have so far is attempting to devise a plan with the others, for tracking down Romano and his mafia. For all we know, he could have thousands of recruits to help him gain a large fortune and government secrets. Now, to a lighter subject, my project is going smoothly and Arthur and I are even in love. He has learned so much, and he reads like his life depends on it. All it takes is a simple act of kindness, and who knows? You could change someone's fate. If only I could have kissed you one last time before you went away. We have yet to figure this out, and we don't have much time before something much bigger than a few sloppy, two minute murders. Joan, I know you're up there. I know you to be smart, brave, and very determined and strong willed. Not to mention beautiful. If you could give me a sign...a sign that shall lead me to the right path. I will be eternally greatful...that's all for tonight. I love you and I will always remember you. -Francis

Francis walked to the spot Joan had been burried. He set the letter down and started tearing up. He had been remembering her more for the past week, and he couldn't bear it.

Flashback:

He had been walking when a woman came up to him, looking lost and terribly afraid and speaking in rapid french. Francis, who was about 20 at the time, decided to calm her down and help her. He assumed she had no idea how to speak english, so he spoke in his mother tounge. "Bonjour, Mademoiselle. As tu besoin d'aide? Ce serait un honneur d'aider une si belle femme." He said. She looked at him with pure relief. "Bonjour, je m'appelle Joan. Je pourrais utiliser de l'aide pour trouver la bibliothèque la plus proche. Cela vous dérange-t-il de vous présenter, monsieur?" She asked, trying to get to know him. He smiled nervously. "Ah oui. Je m'appelle Francis Bonnefoy. La bibliothèque est juste au coin de la rue." They found themselves meeting up everyday after that. Two years later they got married, and just a month later, Joan was killed. She had been found on the street, beaten and burned. Francis never forgot it.

Back to the real world:

"You really miss her, don't you?" Francis turned to see Ludwig standing there. "Sorry to scare you, I came to say hello to Feliciano and Gilbert, then I saw you here so I thought I'd check on you." Francis sighed. "Words could never describe how much I miss her...but I have a feeling she sent Arthur to me. If she were here she would tell me that she loved me, and that I was so cheezy, and then I would bring her home and we would cook together. She sent me Arthur. She sent me someone who needed love, and soon, I may propose to him. I helped him, and now he can get a job. I can't say I hate life now, because there's something about that brit that makes me so happy, so glad to be around him, and I want to spend the rest of my life with him." Ludwig smiled, tearing up. "Listen, it's not much, but it's a thank you for picking my brothers and I off the streets. I was going to propose to Feli, but I can't now. I think this should do it. If you're happy with him and you treat each other with respect, then I'll be there for you two every minute." He pulled a box out of his pocket. It was small, lined with Italian red velvet. Inside, it held the most beautiful ring Francis had ever seen. "Ludwig..." "go on, take it and give yourself what you deserve. You're so kind hearted and patient, and you put the world before yourself. But just this once, please, get together with the man you love the most." The German said, laughing. Francis couldn't help but laugh too. He took the box and hugged the taller man. "D-danke..." He said, in poor German. Ludwig laughed harder. "You'll get there, You're trying." They laughed and went home. Of course, they came home to Elizabeta and Roderich fighting, since they had gotten married some time ago and they were having some newly-wed struggles. "Maybe you should have proposed to a piano instead of me! And you can cheat on it with a violin! I see the way you act around Mei! Oh and then remember to tune your wife just right so she doesn't turn out to be an imperfect human being like me! Be careful. Nobody enjoys a sharp A or a flat G." Roderich sighed. "Lizzie please. I say hello to everyone that says helloto me. And music is just a hobby. Sure, I spend quite a bit of time with Bessie and Katharine, but-" "Don't tell me you have NAMES FOR THOSE THINGS! You really are a hopeless case." "Lizzie, I-" "Get out. Take what's yours and get out of my sight, Mr. Edelstein." Roderich went over and simply picked up his wife and started walking twards the door. They kissed. "Oh, Roddy, you angel...what am I going to do with you?" And no more was said. That night, they weren't even halfway through dinner when Francis stood up. 'This is it.' Ludwig thought. The Frenchman got down on one knee and took the box out. "Arthur, I would be honoured to spend the rest of my life with you. You're wonderful, and you're worthy of being loved. So, will you marry me?" The brit nodded happily and threw himself into Francis. Everyone cheered, happy to see their friend and boss so happy. Francis hadn't been this happy in ages. "I knew it!" Yao shouted. Everyone turned swiftly to him, and he had to make a fool of himself hiding the scrapbook with his ships in it. "What's that, Yao?" "AIYAA! NOTHING ARU!" Roderich came in with a newspaper. "Looks like some of Romano's gang got turned in. The Ice-Wolves came and picked a fight with them and the mafia ended up loosing some members who got turned in." Francis contently sighed. "Good to know Ivan's Associates are working. We need all the help we can get."

A/N: ok, so that was eventful. man, I finished this last night and I was so proud of myself. I'm aiming to get to 50 chapters so I need to think. only I have a terrible infectious disease called writer's block. so I request the help of you. yes, please help me. please.


	9. chapter 9

that night, the gang fight would happen. The first gang fight ever since the deal with Ivan. Tino had gone to speak with Romano and of course Berwald went with him. That left Emil, Mathias, and Lukas by themselves. "Maybe we could get our hands on some newspapers." Lukas suggested. "Yeah, but who's gonna read it? Tino's the only one who can fluently read and you can read just a little bit, but not much." Mathias replied. "Is Emil still asleep on that couch? We should really carry him to bed or something. He'll get back pains." Lukas said. Mathias picked Emil up and set him on the bed in the other room. "Alright, now that the kid's out cold and in bed, I think it's time for some fun, don't you think?" Mathias asked. Lukas smirked. "Come on, idiot." By time they were...finished, Berwald and Tino were home and making dinner. "Who's hungry?" Tino called. Obviously, Lukas, Mathias, and Emil came in like puppies about to get a treat. "So how'd it go with Romano?" Mathias questioned. "Fine. That guy's not as scary as he thinks. Honestly, I have no idea why he's even trying. He's rediculous!" Emil slammed a fist on the table. "He's a murderer." He said quietly. "He's a murderer, a liar, and a heartbreaker without any mercy. Sending his hitmen everywhere, killing his victims himself even! He's after secrets. We know that. He's after secrets, and he wants it to get bloody. That's all we know, and all we'll ever know about him. He's a snake, and you shouldn't trust anyone, or anything. What he did was all an act. Trust me.I remember when the gang started off as just you, Berwald, and Mathias. Mathias had been walking by and noticed us, luckily. We were attacked. In fact, we almost died that night. But because of the Dane picking up some booze, we're alive. Romano himself told me that night, that if he ever saw me again he'd give me hell. Why do you think I never come to fights when we're fighting the mafia? Because it makes me sick to my stomach. It makes me sick, and I try to sleep it away while you all risk your lives because it's 'gang nature' and then you come home and say it's no big deal that you almost died and came home with some sort of injury. Thank you." He said. Honestly, it felt good to vent like that, but now they knew the truth. "Emil..." Tino started, but then stopped himself. "I'm coming to the fight, and I'm slaughtering that snake myself." Emil said, before walking out. "But I made muffins..." "NOT NOW BERWALD!"

an: sorry for the late response! I have no idea how to get this to 50 chapters but I'm doing my best. if anything, the gang fight should be pretty lit and I understand that like 2 thirds of this chapter was just emil ranting oops. anyway, bye! oдo


	10. chapter 10

Francis sighed, signing the last paper in the stack. He set it in the box to send out. "It's about time...mon dieu, this round decided to give me a headache." At this point in time, Vash and Lili had gone back home, Francis had been getting less and less sleep, news about Easter Pete getting arrested and somehow escaping, nothing too serious. It was about eight at night, and after a phonecall to Mr. Braginsky, he'd be able to get some sleep. A knock at the door had thrown Francis off his train of thought. He ignored the splitting headache he gained throughout the day. "Oui?" Matthew came in. "Tomorrow's a saturday. I don't care what's going on tomorrow, you're catching up on sleep. Look at you! God, if you weren't rubbing your temples like that I'd pronounce you as dead. I could just rant forever, you know. But if you really enjoy life, then I suggest that you catch on sleep so you can live to see the next day. You look like you're going to pass any minute now. Francis nodded and left. He walked up to the room he now shared with Arthur, his fiance. "How'd work go, love?" Francis smiled at the man, who was curled up in bed with a book. Arthur had been working as a waiter in a restaurant, and he got home around six at the latest. "Mon dieu, it was the boring, same old paperwork and phonecalls, now I'm getting headaches, and I'm just so tired..." he sighed. "How's your new job holding up?" Arthur laughed. "Oh, they're fixing the kitchen so half our menu's unavailable. We've been harrassed a few times for food that isn't on the menu. Personally, I've learned to keep cover. I've seen some people who're after me, but luckily, I wasn't the one serving them. Usually it's couples out for lunch, families, you get the idea. It's not as bad as the horror stories we're all told." Francis laughed. "Well, there's one person's side of the story, the other person's side of the story, and then somewhere in the middle. Honestly-wait...people are after you?" Arthur looked around, clearly about to tell a lie. "Just something that happened a while back. Nothing too terrible." Francis sighed. There was no way he could bring out the truth. He just nodded in agreement and fell asleep.

A/N: SORRYSORRYSORRY I keep forgeting to even touch this story. but in a notebook I have up to chapter 13 written and I'll work on it some more. but I keep forgetting to update and I SUCK. so have a nice day night whatever.


	11. chapter 11

At one point, Francis was asleep. The next, he was wide awake due to a bunch of sudden shouting. He and Arthur ran downstairs, sadly knowing what happened. "What's going on?" They asked, half asleep. Francis didn't want to believe it. "Roderich...Elizabeta..." The newlyweds were dead, placed next to eachother. Roderich was covered in blood, and it was clear that Elizabeta had been raped by either Romano's hitman, or Romano himself, Francis didn't care. He was filled with anger, mourn, slight terror... "No...no...NO!" He took a deep breath, and straightened himself up. "Gentlemen, I am going to go make a phone call." He stepped inside his office. Silence...no. ten minutes of silence could be heard from the outside, and then, "I'm done with this, Braginsky! You'd best be thinking of something faster than when I fell in love with Arthur, or you won't get your side of the money. Sure, send your little army over, but in my house, if one of us is hurt, we hurt together." A pause. "Maybe you should work a bit harder if you think three in the morning is to early!" The phone slammed, and Francis stepped out, tearstained. Antonio wanted to say something, but he held himself back. They called the police again, and dealt with it. Then, they went to bed. Antonio sighed on his bed. "Poor Ludwig...Roderich was the only family he had left..." for some reason, the Spaniard could only think about the time Francis took him, Antonio Fernandez-Carreido, off the streets. He started crying. "Gracias...muchos gracias, Francis."

A/N: I currently have up to chapter 15 published, but to keep up the suspense I think I'll publish a little by little. oof, I know. you've made it this far, so get ready! spoilers, chapter 12 is Antonio's story, so get your ice cream ready.


	12. chapter 12

A cold, snowy December night, sort of like the day Arthur and Francis met, A man stood outside the local pub. That man was sick, drunk, and homeless, with nowhere to go, and nothing but a few euros, the current clothes on his back, and a sword to his name. That man, was Antonio Fernandez-Carreido. Sometimes, all it takes is someone to walk by and pay attention, and a life is changed. In this instance, and many others in the future, that someone was none other than the sympathetic and charming Mr. Francis Bonnefoy.

"I lost everything...I'm sick, tired, drunk, homeless, and I have no idea what to do next." Francis thought for a bit. "How does starting off by getting a job sound?" Antonio looked up from his brandy. "What? Really...I-" Francis laughed softly. "What do you need?" "Just a place to sleep, sir." "Well then, lets get you to my house and clean you up. Here, take my jacket. You clearly need it more than I do." Antonio pondered on something, and then it hit him like a brick. "Wait! I know where I've seen you before. You're Francis Bonnefoy! Aren't you supposed to be at some fancy guild, playing golf or something? Why are you helping some hum drum street rat like me?" "Everyone has potential. But I see that potential shining deep inside you. Now hurry up! I don't want you to worsen your condition." Antonio followed, only to have his future brightened, and be better than it could have been. He was a very lucky man.


	13. chapter 13

somehow, the spaniard had ended up outside of the large mansion. He shivered, gripping the sword his father left him. "Romano, wherever you are, I'm coming." A sigh escaped his lips. "I'm sorry, Francis, but this needs to end. I'm tired of perfectly innocent people loosing their lives." And off he ran.

"Arthur, wake up." "Francis, it's two in the morning. What's bothering you at this hour?" Arthur looked up to see Francis already dressed, putting a coat on. "Antonio's missing. I've checked the whole house, and he's missing." Lately, after Gilbert's death, Francis had been going around the house, making sure everyone was alright. Usually, that was the case. But this time, Antonio was missing. "He was either kidnapped or he went after the mafia...alright. Let me get dressed." A few minutes later, they ended up by the shed. "What's this about?" Arthur asked. "Always be prepared." Francis replied, tossing him two pistols and a rifle. Francis equipped himself with a rife and a sword. They got in the car and drove off, starting their tedious search.

"Romano...wherever you are, watch your back." Antonio said, holding the sword close to his chest. Somehow, he felt compelled to search the catacombs of an old catholic church. "Well, scuzi for not having a plan...guess it's just you and me, idioto." A chilling, thick Italian accent sent a shiver down the spaniard's spine. He turned around to see Romano, hanging upsidedown on a rod, reaching from one wall to the other, and gripping a sword of his own. He got himself down, in a rather graceful flip. Antonio had to admit that he was rather impressed. But a quick jab set him back on track.

"You have no idea what you're doing, Romano!" Antonio yelled, dodging a jab. "Touchy, touchy...who taught you to be so tough?" Romano mused. "Who taught you to rape and murder?" Antonio fired back, quickly. "Looks like we're equally good swordsmen..." Romano said, looking at his watch. "Well, scuzi, but it looks like I have some business to handle." He left Antonio standing there, only to turn around and see Francis and Arthur. "Come on, before he comes back." Antonio whispered, taking them to Francis's car.


	14. chapter 14

"Hurry up! The motel's just around the corner. We have just enough for the night." A thickly German accent called. "Well, it's hard, having to carry an unconcious ten year old! Especially when I'm so tired of the constant running and have a busted leg..." antother voice, slightly like the first, but you could tell the second voice was smaller, slighly younger. The first voice sighed, slowing down. "Give him to me, Roderich." Roderich caught up handing their youngest brother to their oldest brother, Gilbert. They eventually got a room, settling down. "Roderich, I'm sharing with Ludwig. He isn't doing much better than earlier, and he only seems to be getting worse. That weather out there surely wasn't any help." Then, Gilbert smiled. "We're sleeping in actual beds...feature that." The boys got ready for bed, and Gilbert gave Ludwig the last of the medicine they had, hoping something would happen. These boys were Gilbert Beilshmidt (17 years old, albino, about 6 feet tall), Ludwig Beilshmidt (10 years old, 5 feet tall, diligent and intelligent), and their half brother, Roderich Edelstein (15 years old, 5'8, musically gifted). "How's your leg doing, Roddy?" "Not good...I'm just going to keep holding us back. Curse this limp..." The smaller male replied, rewrapping his ankle. They both froze when they heard a small moan, followed by, "Mutti...Vatti..." Gilbert clicked his teeth. "Fever dreams." he came over and ran a hand through Ludwig's hair. "Shh...Ludwig, Mutti and vatti are dead, remember? They died 6 years ago..." Ludwig went back to sleep, sweating like hell. Gilbert set the boy down and left the bed. "Roderich...what do we do?" He said, tearing up. "I don't know, Gilbert, but he's a strong kid. If he can kill a man with his own mustache and a grape, I think he could surely beat pneumonia and scarlet fever." Roderich responded, pulling Gilbert into a hug. "Still, how does he have both scarlet fever and pneumonia at the same time? However he got it, I just know he'll make it, bruder." "I hope so..."

3 years later

"Gilbert!" Roderich and Ludwig were running twards the man they knew to be their brother. But he wasn't himself. Gilbert had spent two years in prison for god knows what, and here he was, the biggest smile on his face, along with plenty of bruises, a good share of scars, and a bit of a limp, but the limp wasn't nearly as bad as Roderich's. "What happened to you?" They asked, sounding concerned. "Prison." Gilbert said. "But now we're all together again, and that's what matters."

Ludwig woke up coughing. "Gilbert?" He looked around. "Roderich?" He sighed. "They were murdered...that's right...Feliciano...Elizabeta...they're gone." Unfortunately, the walls of the mansion were thinner than Vash swingli's patience. "Ludwig? Are you alright?" Ludwig was put between the most caring people under that roof when he first came along with his brothers. Mathew and Francis. Just his luck, they're both very light sleepers with nonhuman hearing. "Ludwig? Is everything alright?" The German flinched at the touch of a cool hand to his forhead. "O-oh...yeah...I just had some flashbacks from when..." he trailed off, trying not to tear up. "Oh, Ludwig...I know things seem to be getting worse, but-" Ludwig looked at Mathew. "But they'll start to look up? Is that what you were going to say? My brothers are dead, my husband is dead, a woman I was so close to was raped and stabbed to death, and here I am, thinking about it and making myself physically sick...I probably have pneumonia again." Well, there goes his shot at "I'm fine". Ludwig was a rather strong, hardworking man. But he managed to catch pneumonia every year. Alfred stood in the doorway, not wanting to interrupt, and broke the scene down. Francis was shirtless, with his hair up in a bun, and wearing some regular tartan pyjama pants, and he was sitting at the edge of the bed, holding a thermometer, and Mathew was wearing an old t-shirt and pyjama pants, rubbing his eyes, and of course, he had his infamous bed hair. Ludwig on the other hand, from what Alfred could see, was wearing a simple black tank top and for once, the German didn't have his hair combed back. Not to mention the visible flush on his cheeks and nose. "Hey Yao?" The American called. "Alfred, now would be a good time to shut up and go to bed." Mathew said, walking to his room to get a few things. Alfred sighed and went back to his room. Mathew came back with everything and tried his best not to worry. Ever since he had met Ludwig, the two had grown rather close.

A/N: PLOTTTTT TWISTTTTT AND A CLIFFHANGERRRRRR!!!! that was extra of me please excuse my manners oof


	15. Chapter 15

Francis sighed. That night, he left the mansion to think, but to think in a very specific place. The old subway station. He must have been thinking too hard because he found himself in the dark once again and crying. He slid down the wall, slowly, trying to figure out where his life was off to. "Desole, mon cher..." a whispered apology to Arthur, who was back at the mansion, most likely with his mind twisted between the pages of a book...again. he sighed. "Weeping will get me no further than getting something out of my system. I need to dig deeper." He ran a hand through his hair. "When will you get tired of the grind, frenchie?" Every trace of the warm atmosphere had left Francis. He recognized the chilling Italian accent. "Romano, not now." He said, trying to sound firm. "I really don't have time for this. Can't we take one night without anything going wrong? Go take a bubble bath with rose petals for christ's sake. If I wanted to see someone dead, I'd show up for a funeral." Romano almost burst out laughing. "You don't want to fight? After all the murders, or, you know...rape? There's more to come, too. Just you wait." Romano replied. And Francis did wait.

A/N: I AM SO SORRY I STOPPED UPDATING! I may not be back for a while, but to keep you calm, I gave you this bit of the story, I know it's not much, but it should work. oof I wish I could update everyday. in fact, after I come back, you will see multiple new chapters in one day. ughhhhhhhhhhh I don't wanna leave for too long, but I have to. I just took the chance now. bye everyone!


	16. 16

"bruder, did you go and get yourself sick again?" Ludwig heard his oldest brother's voice. "Gilbert? But...you're supposed to be dead!" "Ludwig, I wanted to tell you that I love you. I never got the opportunity to before I was slaughtered." Ludwig started tearing up. "I..." Gilbert smiled softly. "Ludwig Wolfgang Beilshmidt. You're strong, and even though Roddy and I aren't with you, we're watching over you." With that, the albino faded. "Ludwig...hey, big guy. Wake up for me, ok? Francis is back, and you've only gotten worse, so we're taking you to the hospital." Ludwig woke up slowly, finding himself drenched in sweat.

(Time skip cause I'm lazy)

'Alright, Francis. This is ridiculous. This house is getting emptier by the minute. Now that Ludwig's staying the night at the hospital, there's Yao, Alfred, Matthew, Arthur, and Antonio. How about we just sit down, chill out, have some wine, and try to forget someone's after you and killing your friends one at a time.' Francis thought as he walked in. This time, nobody was dead, the house was in complete order, everyone was just fine. Antonio was polishing his sword, Yao was cooking, Alfred was writing about another one of theories, Arthur was reading, and Matthew was asleep. Everything was fine. Francis found himself hyperventilating. Things couldn't just be fine. Something had to be wrong. He got himself situated with a glass of wine, and he went to go spend some time with his love. He set the glass on the side table, and wrapped himself around Arthur. 'Romano's planning something big.' Francis thought. Sometimes, Francis felt like the best way to get away from something was to go straight twards it. "Arthur, has anything gone wrong tonight? Anything at all?" Arthur closed the book and set it on the sidetable. "No. Exept the fact that you haven't kissed me hello." Francis sighed. "Come here, you." Miraculously, Francis actually got some much needed sleep that night. So did the others. Especially Matthew, who spent all his time trying to help everyone else, not making sure he tried to help himself. If anything, the morning would go well, ie, no arguments between Alfred and Matthew, and Francis having to hold Matthew back while Antonio held Alfred back. Mostly, "BAISE TOI ET LA SENTIMENTS!" "*french screaming* MATTHEW JACQUES WILLIAMS YOU WATCH YOUR MOUTH!" Yeah...Mattie was usually pretty aggressive without sleep. And to be honest, the morning did go well. Everyone had gotten a full eight hours of sleep, except for Antonio, who fell of the bed, but otherwise, everything was going well. "I don't know what I did, but last night was great." Matthew said, still trying to comb out those tangles from hell. Alfred ruffled his brother's hair. "Really, Al-" "Nobody died last night! That probably means something." Antonio walked in, rubbing his back. "How'd you sleep, Toni?" Antonio looked up at Alfred. "I fell off the bed again." "Aww, I'm sorry.-" Matthew replied. Antonio cut him short. "But I didn't hit my head on the sidetable this time!" Yao, who was pretty salty because he hadn't had his coffee yet, and he ended up burning himself, didn't even look up. "That's an improvement." He said, flatly. "Alright, salty sue. That's enough." Francis said, walking in and putting his hair up in a bun. (Man bun Francis is a very pleasant thought.) "To be honest, I kinda wonder what Romano's up to right now. I bet-" once again, Matthew was cut off. "Maybe Romano gave up." Antonio suggested. "Or got ambushed by those Scandinavian dudes!" Alfred added. Matthew slammed a fist on the table. "I swear if I get cut off ONE MORE TIME. Alfred. Get my coffee. Alfred handed him a cup of coffee and that was the end of that.

a/n: guess who's back! back again! Nova's back! tell a friend! a lot's happened, but I missed you, fools! as I promised, I have 21 done and I'm working on 22 for ya! I love you guys!


	17. 17

Romano's hideout was a mansion that almost made the Addams Family look like they lived in a Barbie dream house. Almost. It was a large, old rotting mansion. The wood was fading pretty fast, and the roof was covered in moss. The windows had been broken and boarded up, and if you punched the wall real hard, the ceiling would crack. The house held some bedrooms for Romano and the percentege of his gang that had lost their homes after so much jailtime, two walk in closets full of weapons, a small kitchen, a meetingroom, a dining room, an office (which held one of those cork boards filled with pictures of the target and red string like you see in movies uhhh), an attic of stuff Romano's grandfather left him, six bathrooms, a basement (good for keeping hostages in), a garage (holding his Ford,) which he loved dearly, as well as a few boxes of old stuff he wanted to get rid of), a storage room, and a love suite (Romano may be on the cruel side, but he takes love seriously. It isn't uncommon that some gang member living there would let his girlfriend tag along). Sure, the house was worn down, but it held seven people. Romano, and his best six guys. (These are just names I randomly thought of, not ocs) Sebastian (extra and can't stand nicknames so he goes by Extra, Attitude, or Sebastian), Antonio "Tony", Leonardo "Le or Leo", Nicholas "Nico", Michael "Mikey, Mike", and Romeo "other Sebastian (since he and Sebastian are twins), Ro". Anyway, Romano had been trying to figure out what he needed to do. He knew he had to get Francis to his house, and he needed to get those nordic guys out of the way. First he'd have to murder one of the scandinavians, and then kidnap Arthur for a ransome again. But he needed a better strategy. Francis had Yao, Antonio, Arthur, Matthew, Alfred, and Ludwig, last time he checked. Romano had Sebastian, Tony, Leo, Nico, Mike, and Romeo. Everyone would be occupied. Francis also had an advantage. Money. Sure, Romano could spare a few hundred thousand dollars he and the guys had earned from concerts, but Francis had several hundred million dollars just from signing a few stupid papers every Monday through Friday. He called the others in. Sebastian and Leo had been practicing for the concert next month (Sebastian playing the viola and Leo playing the piano.), Romeo had been on the phone talking to one of his girlfriends, convincing her that she was 'the most beautiful creature in the world', Mike had been cooking (mushroom agnolotti that they had been living off of for weeks), and Nico had just gotten comfortable with a glass of whine and a dirty romance novel. They walked into Romano's office, where the Italian had been eating tomatoes and planning. Nicolas knew what this was about. "Come on, Roma. Give it a rest, eh? Live in the present for once, will you?" "It's December eighth, 1946. If I know the current date, then I'm living in the present." Romano didn't let up without a little snark. "I'm not sure that's how it works..." Mike said. "Shut up. I'm going to kill someone." "Don't you do that every day?" Leo asked. "I wish you would just listen everyday. I'm killing one of the scandinavians and then I'm kidnapping Arthur for Ransom, but then I'm kidnapping Francis." He told them. "Why don't you just kill him? All of europe's after your head anyway. Besides. Wouldn't that make things easier?" Tony asked. "Do you think I haven't tried, idioto? Francis Bonnefoy is impossible to kill. He needs to be sick or hurt befofore hand. But he and his associates are the best fighters in western Europe. To go against the greatest fighters in the world, and then in western europe...we may as well just try to break into the Braginsky mansion when Ivan's drunk. We need to think of something so we don't look stupid." Romeo sighed. "Romano, don't you get it? We already look stupid AND crazy, and we're never going to get what we want. Just face it, idiota." He said. Romano slammed a fist on the table. "We're not giving up! Do you even hear yourself bas-" "Why do you even want those government files so bad anyway!? What are you going to do with the money?" Leo fired back. Romano stuttered. "You don't even know, do you...here we go boys. We found a good example of a complete imbicile! I never thought I'd say this, just being a homeless Italian in France, not a penny to my name, but I think I'll go back to taking siestas on the streets. I'm pretty sure Nikolai's tired of romance novels, Mike would like to make something other than agnolotti (he can't cook anything else!), Sebastian wants to compose music with Romeo, and I just wanna see Natalya again! (They got separated after the war and have been looking for eachother ever since.) If anybody needs me, I'll be upstairs, getting everything together, and then I'm outta here, doing something worth my time." Leo ranted before walking out. Mike sighed. "If Leo's out, I'm out. Sure, we have it good here, but I'm not about to be bossed around." The others would have left, but they didn't want to end up on the streets, selling newspapers again. "Eh, I have thousands of hitmen, all over France. So what if two cowards walk out on me." Romano said, speaking to nobody in particular.


	18. 18

I think I'd be lying if I said Francis and the rest of the residents of the Bonnefoy mansion were ok. Ludwig had just gotten back from the hospital, Yao had been angry cooking all month, Alfred had been stress eating and over-exerting himself, Matthew had started smoking and constantly drinking beer for some reason, and Arthur was crying himself to sleep long befor Francis was done with his work as well as sleeping every chance he got. Francis himself was only in his late twenties and his hair was already turning grey, no amount of coffee could keep him awake, and he was pretty irritable. He was crocheting one of the five sweaters he was going to give for christmas and Arthur (for once he hadn't been sleeping) came down and started rubbing the Frenchman's shoulders. "Hello, love." The brit said. "What have you been up to, sleeping beauty?" "Francis, we need to talk with the others. We're all...broken. If we keep going on like this, the mansion will turn into another one of my cooking attempts." Francis looked up at his love. "Arthur, you're right." Ten minutes later, everyone was in Francis's office. "What happened, boys?" "Alfred, if you touch me one more time, I swear I'll punch you so hard our ancestors will feel it." Matthew said, smacking the American's hand away. Francis sighed. "This is exactly what I mean. It's because of everything that's been going on, hm? Well, listen. It's been nearly a year since things started happening, and I don't think that this battle will come to an end anytime soon." He stated. "We need to keep our heads up and hold as much faith together as we can." Francis finished off with a nod. "If you can't do it for yourself, do it for each other. We need all the faith we can get." And that was the end of that.


	19. 19

"We need to be prepared this time. Last time they knew what they were doing and we hardly even tried. Not only did we almost loose the fool in the back *cough*Mathias*cough, we lost that battle, and we lost hard. They slaughtered us! If that wasn't bad enough, the bulls showed up and weren't too helpful." Tino said to the rest of the gang, pacing. Tino pacing usually didn't mean a good thing. "This time, we're not playing around anymore. I'm not about to loose you guys. You guys are like my family." After that meeting was done, They decided to just kinda sit around. Mathias was attempting to chug six bottles of booze non stop, Berwald was finishing up a table he had been building for weeks, Lukas was sitting on the couch reading and eating a stick of butter, Tino was practicing sharpshooting in his and Berwald's room while listening to the police radio, and Emil was in his room hiding from Lukas and eating black liquorice. Eventually they all fell asleep. The gang fight would take place at 11:00 pm, sharp. By about 10:30 Tino woke everybody up and they got what they needed and left. This time, Emil was coming. They lined up at one end of the field, and Romano and his crew had lined up at the other end. Everyone in Romano's crew looked so...fancy. Italian cut suits, two pistiols in each hand, along with brass knuckles some had violin cases to hide rifles. Tino had his shotgun, Berwald had his rifle, Lukas had a pistol, Emil had two handguns, and Mathias was going old school and using his battle axe. Emil had no idea when it happened, but in an instant, it was like a battlefield...his mind went on autopilot and he just started shooting at anyone who came near him. Then, his mind went black as he felt something in his head. He tried to figure out what it was, but he couldn't...it was too late. He didn't get enough time. "EMIL!" Lukas shouted as he saw his brother laying there. "No...no...no...this-Emil, please. W-wake up..." Lukas got up and just...went crazy. Taken over by rage. Trying to find the sick, twisted person that shot his little brother. At least the others were ok...Lukas had shot about 20 men before Matthias had to walk up and tell him that the Ice-Wolves had already won. Lukas just stood by his little brother's dead body, acting like it would move. But it didn't. He just fell to his knees and cried. Matthias picked up the limp boy and carried him bridal style and they went back to the appartment after burrying the body. Then that was that.


	20. 20

Matthew lay awake that night, wondering what would happen next. Sure, Romano had been after Francis's head for years. But after Arthur showed up with the Frenchman, things started getting really bad. If he wanted answers, Matthew would have to get up close and personal with the Brit. He thought of what he'd say as he let sleep take over his mind. That morning, at breakfast, walked in, combing out his hair, seeing that everyone else had already sat down. "So...Arthur. you've been here for about a year, and you've never actually told us anything about yourself. Would you mind...telling us your story?" The others perked up, interested, exept Yao, who had to have five cups of coffee before you could even wave to him. The only problem was that the only coffee he liked was the kind that Antonio made, but Antonio was caught up with combing out his hair, which was almost as bad as Matthew's. Almost. Anyway, Arthur began. "To start off, I'll list my brothers and I from oldest to youngest. Angus, Alistair, Dylan, me, and the twins, Logan, and William. We lost our mother on my birthday. Our mother and father had been hit real hard once Father got sick. He died the day I was born, and Mother tried to be strong but the stress she let build up inside her grew and grew, and one day, she couldn't take it. She had just gotten Alistair and Angus's fevers down, since there had been an outbreak of yellow fever that year, and she hugged me, and closed her eyes, knowing she'd never open them again." Ludwig sighed. "I'm sorry Arthur...my mother died the same way, trying to deal with my brothers and I. I was very sick and she just...stopped." Arthur nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that, Ludwig." Alfred rested his chin in his hand. "Well, then what happened, Artie?"

(Flashback to Arthur's childhood)

"Ok, the twins are in bed, Dylan's out at the shoppe, so I'll get Angus and Alistair's fevers down, and then it's just you and me." Arthur nodded. "Mother, do you think things will get better?" "Well, Arthur. A thing your father told me when things started going downhill is that when a string of bad things happen, something good usually comes out of it." She said with a small smile. She had just hit her 30s and she already had grey hair, only proving her stress from taking care of 6 children plus herself. She sighed. "It's not as bad as it looks, being a mother. The only pain is that I can't teach you all anything and I can't afford any school for you. I can't help you become a success." She started tearing up. "Mother, what is it?" The once red haired woman sat next to her son. "I had to use the last of our money to try and help Alistair and Angus. I was trying to save for your birthday." Arthur's breath hitched. "Mother, being with the people I have and hold dear to me will always be enough. You need to spend money on things that truly matter, like trying to help my brothers, or even yourself." "Oh Arthur..." that was the last anyone had ever heard of Ms. Kirkland.

Several years later...

They had gotten evicted. They had taken refuge in an abandoned warehouse, and to be honest, it was somehow better than the old house. Alistair had just gotten better, but Angus wasn't showing any signs of improvement. Over the course of several days later, he was fine. But then again, he had been placed under Dylan's care, and Dylan happened to be self taught at reading and he swiftly learned about these things. Alistair was having trouble coping for a while. He thought he was the reason his mother died, and anytime he had the money, he'd just end up crawling home drunk. Some time after the war, Arthur was forced to go out and steal food just because he could run fast and he had incredible stamina. He had just walked into the store and he didn't have time to take a deep breath before a police officer started chasing him. He had been chased down to the subway and that's when he met Francis.

(Back to real time)

Matthew sighed. Ok, looks like Arthur has NOTHING to do with Romano. But then why did Romano start attacking when Arthur first arrived. Francis had just walked down (he went to bed ever so late) and he kissed Arthur good morning. That's when it hit Matthew like the bricks Elizabeta would through out the window when she became angry. "OH!" Had he said that out loud? "Mathieu, what is it?" The Canadian blushed. "I uh...just realized that I didn't take a shower last night. If you'll excuse me." He rushed up the many flights of stairs to find himself in his room searching for a notebook. He found a fairly large one, along with a pencil, and sat at his desk. "Romano saw that Francis and Arthur are in love. That means Romano had spent years of planning and waited until he could find something to dangle over Francis's head! Which means that the next time he strikes, he's kidnapping Arthur for ransom. But...hasn't he tried this before? Well guess his grandma had the same quote as mine. Sure, plan A's gone, but there's 25 letters left. This would mean that this time, he's going back to the first attempt and learning from his mistakes. Sometimes certain people learning just isn't helpful! God-ok...calm down. We can learn from that pompus, cocky pig. If he has a plan, we can have a plan. But he doesn't have a good consistency and he's very predictable. Come on, he's the leader of the Mafia! He's also quite merciless, seeing as his first kill was his twin brother." He shuddered at the thought. "Ok, now all I have to do is take a quick shower so they don't question me and then come up with a plan for how I'll tell the others." He took a five minute shower, got dressed, and then he came back into the room where the others where. "Guys, I figured it out." Matthew said, sitting down.


	21. 21

"What is it?" Francis asked. Matthew sighed. "Ok. I figured out Romano's plan." Alfred gave him a confused look. "I thought you were showering." Everyone facepalmed. "People can think in the shower, Al." Matthew said flatly. "Ok, so Romano decided to learn from his mistakes and repeat things but do them better. He started making various attacks once you and Arthur met because he was waiting for something to dangle over your head, so in conclusion, I'm certain he's going to kidnap Arthur for his next attack. I won't be able to stand it if another one of you guys were to die, so please be cautious. Francis, that means no more late night drinking at the bar with Antonio." Francis opened his mouth, but then closed it. Matthew got him this time. Matthew continued. "Watch your backs, and don't let your guard down. We've already lost four people." With that, the phone rang and Francis got up with a nod.

(Francis's office)

"Hello?" "Francis, I-I have terrible news!" Francis tensed up. He knew that voice. "Yekaterina? What happened?" It didn't take much to get the Ukrainian worked up, but something didn't seem right. "My little brother's dead on the floor and my little sister's nowhere to be found! You were the first person I thought I'd call, seeing you and Ivan are close friends, but still, what happened to Natalya?" Francis's heart dropped. He knew how Ivan died, and he was sure he knew he knew where Natalya was. "Listen, Yekaterina. You're still in Paris, right?" "да." "Alright, Ivan gave me the adress three days ago just in case. Stay where you are, I'll be right there." With that, Francis hung up and walked out of his office.

(Back in the dining room)

"I'm going to be in Paris for a while. I have to help Miss Braginskaya with something, so just try and keep yourselves occupied. That means no fighting, Arthur, Alfred, and Yao." Yao threw his hands in the air. "I swear that bush-faced brit tried to sell me opium aru! Nobody in this house believes me, aiyaa..." Arthur stood up. "Atleast I have eyebrows, tosser!" "Aiyaa, I have eyebrows aru! Don't call me words that I don't know!" Matthew held Yao back and Antonio held Arthur back before things could get rough. With a sigh and a facepalm, Francis got in the car and left.


	22. 22

"Yekaterina? It's me, Francis." The Ukrainian woman opened the door and Francis came in. "Alright, have the police already come?" "Yes, but I still don't know where Natalya is!" The woman said as she burst into tears. Francis hugged her, stroking her hair and telling her everything would be alright. After the hug broke, they heard a baby crying outside the hotel door. "Hm? There's a baby outside...I'll be right back." Yekaterina said, getting up. Francis knew this trick. "Don't. This is a popular trick with kidnappers. They use recordings of a baby's cries to lure people, usually women, outside and then they strike. Let me handle this. You've gone through enough today." Francis pulled a blade from his pocket and walked outside. The recording was being played right in the middle of the hallway, just a few feet from the door. Next thing he knew, a man had him in a headlock. Francis put up a good fight, and nearly failed to get away. He escaped with a stab wound in his left bicep and a few good cuts on his cheek. Yekaterina took care of him and cleaned him up. Francis had been thinking through the whole thing. "I think I just might know where Natalya is." He told the silver haired woman. "He used the same trick on Natalya and she fell for it. If anything, she's in Romano's basement. He's far too stereotypical and it's easy to predict his next move. He thinks it's easy to get away with these things." Yekaterina sighed. "As much as I'd love to play Sherlock with you, I just want to see my sister again." She said, flatly. Off they were, once Francis got ahold of his crew. Yekaterina, Matthew, Arthur, and Alfred distracted Romano while Yao, Ludwig, Antonio and Francis took care of the rest. Antonio found Natalya and called the others over. "Is she sleeping?" Yao asked. Antonio shook his head. "This is everything but just a siesta. They drugged her." Then they heard the worst possible sound. The door slam. "I rant to him and walk out on him, and then I just had to forget my favourite gun. Fantastic." Leonardo said as he walked in. He stopped once he saw the group. "Natalya?" He asked once he saw the unconscious woman. "Who are you?" The group asked in unison. "I'm Leonardo, call me Leo." Francis cocked his head to the side. "And you know our friend here?" Leo nodded. Yao tapped Ludwig on his shoulder. "Should we trust him, aru?" Ludwig sighed. "How are we supposed to know? Even Arthur would be confused weather or not to trust him." They thought about it, going back and forth. Just as things were about to get rough between Ludwig and Antonio, who were now arguing over who had the best family recipe for home made beer, the rest of the gang showed up. "Er, Yekaterina, why are you soaking wet and reeking of aged Italian wine?" Francis asked, remembering the strong smelling wine Feliciano drank. (And often got wasted on) the Ukrainian blushed. "D-don't ask." Matthew also looked a little disturbed from what happened. "Please don't ask..." He squeaked, quieter than usual. "Guy's there's a drunk and passed out Italian up there. We have to get out of here before he wakes up." Arthur said, bringing them back to reality. "Then let's go!" Alfred said. They got out of there, taking Leo with them. They got to Francis's house and Alfred and Matthew questioned Leo, while Yekaterina and Antonio took care of Natalya. "Alright Francis, He's trustworthy." Matthew and Alfred shouted, pushing Leo out of the room. Natalia woke up after a bit and apparently, Romano had stolen the portion of the files Ivan had, along with 10,000 dollars. Great. Well, at least they were back together.

Francis's office.

"Love, you've been pacing for hours. I won't be surprised if the floor caves in on you." Arthur stated, looking up from his book. Francis sighed. "We are keeping a mafia hitman in our house, mon amour. I'm not going to just go to sleep if I'm worried about everyone all night! Yao's superstitious and you know how he is once he gets going, Ludwig's unstable since both of his brothers are dead because of that man, Alfred won't shut up since he's so obsessed with anything that has to do with crime, Matthew's been on edge enough since he started smoking, and Antonio's sobbing in his room because we're befriending the man who killed Gilbert. I just don't know how I feel about this!" The Frenchman ranted. "Well, He quit on Romano, if that gives you any comfort. And he's dating Natalya." Arthur pointed out. "Mon dieu, Arthur, he killed my best friend!" Just as Francis had said that, Yekaterina ran in, panting. "Ms. Braginskaya? What's going on?" She finally found her voice. "Things...are getting a little crazy out there." Francis and Arthur exchanged glances. "Francis Bonnefoy, they're making love on your sofa!" "Oh, merde." "Mhm. Do you mind if I just take refuge here for a bit?" Francis nodded. "Have a seat." "Thank you. My back hurts so terribly." She said to nobody in particular. Arthur sighed. "Well, you pace and exaust yourself as much as you like. I'm going to bed. It's 11 at night.


	23. 23

Francis got in bed next to Arthur at about one am. "It's about time." Francis froze as he heard Arthur's voice. He sounded so angry. "Mon lapin..." "first off, don't speak French when I'm angry. I can't understand you. Secondly, you never sleep. Then you comppain to me at like 4 in the morning that you're TIRED. Here's some advice. Go to sleep. Third, you know we aren't going to solve this problem unless we kill Romano, so why aren't you just going to kill him? I'm not mad, love, it's just that I'm worried. Get some sleep, I love you." The brit ranted. Francis sighed. If he could, he would have killed Romano a long time ago. But there was a certain secret between Francis, Antonio, Gilbert (who's now dead.), and Romano.

A few years before Arthur and Francis met:

"Francis, Gilbert, I need to come clean with you." Antonio said, as he walked into the kitchen. "what's wrong?" The others asked, setting down their drinks. "I'm in love." The spaniard said, bluntly. "Is she pretty?" "What's her name?" "Have you two had se-" Francis and Gilbert asked, only to be interrupted. "It's a guy. I'm bisexual." He said. The others were pretty supportive. "Oh, wow...thanks for telling us. We're sorry we just assumed it was a girl and bombarded you with questions." Francis said, with Gilbert nodding. "What's his name?" Gilbert asked. "Romano. Romano Vargas." Francis paled. "I feel light headed..." Gilbert, who had also (somehow) paled (the man is a g h o s t) caught him and they all went to go talk on the couch. "Antonio, are you sure about this?" Gilbert asked. He was actually ok with it, he just wanted to protect his friend. Finally, Francis woke up. "Do you actually love each other?" He asked. Antonio nodded to both questions. "I love him so much...if anything happened to him I wouldn't be able to go on. He's just perfect, underneath the cold exterior...lo siento, but I love him." "Antonio, I promise I'll cause no harm to him." Francis said. Gilbert agreed. "Me too." Antonio hugged both of them tightly. "Thank you so much!" He said, his voice wavering slightly. Gilbert laughed a little. "It's no problem, really! Come on. Let's go hit up a boozer." Francis and Antonio agreed happily, tagging along. But then, a few years later, the attacks happen...Romano killed his own twin brother...where did life go wrong? That's when Antonio and Romano started fighting, occasionally.

Back to reality:

Francis sighed, deciding to sleep so he wouldn't get kicked out of his own house. Everyone was asleep, exept Alfred, who was grabbing a "snack", and Matthew, who was out having a cigarette. Alfred was starting to worry about his brother's health, since drinking and smoking weren't really good things you could do to yourself, and he had only gotten worse since he started, but he wouldn't go out this late at night unless something was wrong. Alfred walked outside after filling a paper bag with fried shrimp. "Matthew? Are you ok?" Matthew sighed. He knew his twin was one of those people where he would know if something was wrong, and he would pressure you until you were honest. "I really don't know, Al...something feels off. There's some big secret between the group of people we're in and the mafia. The Braginskys had a link, Feliciano had a link, who else? And where are those Scandinavian guys!? Ivan hired them to protect us, didn't he? Well they have made ONE appearance! The attacks didn't start until Arthur came along, but he doesn't seem to have anything to do with them. The past few years have been like one of those television dramas Gilbert, Roderich, and Elizabeta were so crazy about...god, Gilbert...why'd he of all people have to die? He was the only person besides you and Francis that knew who I was...He was my best friend, Al." Matthew got out another cigarette. "If you wanna know the full story you might be out here a while, eh?" Alfred refused. "Mattie, you know I don't smoke. Come on, it's cold out..." Matthew put the cigarette out and came in, only to grab a beer. "Matthew, please! It's four in the morning." "Alfred, I've got a lot on my mind right now." The American sighed, seeing as it was no use, trying to get his brother into better habbits. They walked around the house as the conversated. As Alfred passed the room Roderich and Elizabeta died in, he noticed something. Long blonde hair. Longer than Francis's. Or Natalya's. The hair had a slight curl to it and it was just as long as Elizabeta's. There were some grey hairs laying around, only...nobody in the mansion had grey hair. The hair had something resembling dye on it...same with another piece of blonde hair. And men's hair gel? Roderich didn't use gel. And a small perfume bottle? Elizabeta hated perfume! "Mattie, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Matthew nodded. "Looks like Romano got some people to play dress up and die..." Meeting time.

A/N: CLIFF HANGER!!! sorry to do this to you, but I need to make this a long story because I have no life lol. I decided to stop being boring and make things interesting. in the words of the ottoman empire, we'll meet again soon enoof.


	24. 24

Ludwig didn't have his hair gelled back. Yao had his hair down. Francis and Antonio were shirtless. Arthur had his infamous bedhead. Alfred didn't have his glasses on. Matthew had a beer in hand and reeked of nicotine and smoke. Why? Because Matthew and Alfred had called an urgent meeting at FOUR THIRTY IN THE MORNING. Antonio had already fallen asleep, and Yao looked like he was about to fall asleep at any minute now. Matthew woke everyone up and Alfred started. Our friends are NOT dead. They're out there. That spiked everyone's interest. "Feli and my brothers are out there?" Ludwig asked. "Elizabeta too?" Matthew nodded. "Yes. We found peices of died hair, gel, and a small perfume bottle." Everyone thought for a minute. "Je suis le idiot." Francis said, breaking the silence. "Hear me out, d'ccord? Where does Romano keep his victims?" "The basement!" Antonio piped up. "That's right." Francis said. "So naturally, We never checked the attic." Matthew shook his head slowly. "Nope. Al and I checked it thoroughly the last few times we went." The others shut up. Where were they? Another question they found themselves asking was, why was Romano targeting the people closest to Ludwig? (In that case, unless they did something, Matthew, Francis, or Ludwig himself was next...) coincidence? Maybe, Maybe not. But it seemed to be strange. Feliciano, Gilbert, Roderich, and Elizabeta...they were gone. As well as the once wealthiest man in all of France, Ivan Braginsky. Yao was still having trouble getting over that. The others didn't blame him. The usually talkative man had gone to a concerning level of silence since the day he learned his Ivan was gone. Francis sighed. He'd have to go to another funeral...he hated funerals. Seeing people dear to you for the last time and they aren't even breathing. Everyone would be crying, some would be hysterical, refusing to believe their loved one was dead. It was awful. They knew Mr. Braginsky was dead, since Yekaterina had seen his death with her own eyes, but the others...Ludwig had had enough. The four people he had left in his life were gone. He was done. "We have to find them. They're out there somewhere, and they aren't safe. I-" just then, a letter was slipped through the door. Ludwig tensed up and went over to pick it up. "Looks like you've figured it out. It's not easy, convincing people to die, but I did it. Nobody knows what's in that file, idiota. I suggest you open it so you know what you're fighting for." Francis sighed. He wished Romano would at least stop saying he was only fighting for the government. He was fighting for his friends, too! At this point, Romano wasn't so terrifying anymore. He was just annoying. Leaving these notes, clues...something was off. Maybe it was his style, but Romano was making this too easy...it's like he wanted them to know what exactly this was. He was toying with them. Was he just BORED!? "If I was Romano, then where would I hide my victims?" Francis asked as a start. "That's a good question. I'd hide them in one of the rooms of the house, but Alfred and Matthew already did a thourough check of the entire house." Ludwig said, slicking his hair back. Arthur looked up. "The basement of a hospital?" Arthur suggested. Antonio shook his head. "No, knowing Romano, he most likely has a fear of hospitals." The others agreed, still oblivious of his relationship with the Italian. "OH!" Yao exclaimed, confident that he was right. The others looked over, startled. "Get dressed. We're going to Italy." The rest of the group stared at him, confused. "I've been thinking...Romano has more than one "hideout" in Europe, right? He's from Italy and he's so proud of the country. Obviously, his main home is in Italy! That's where our friends are." The others looked at eachother. "It's worth a shot..." Ludwig said. So they went to Italy.


	25. 25

Italy was just as beautiful as Feliciano had described it. Ludwig was crying once they got there, since the country reminded him so much of his dear Feliciano Vargas...they got to the hotel and sorted everything out.

(Matthew and Alfred's room)

"Ok, so from how the others put this, looks like we're the ringmasters in this situation. Now what?" Alfred asked, not sure what to do next. Matthew, on the other hand, just couldn't stop pacing. If he stopped, he'd overthink. "I'm not sure what to say...guess we have to hope we're right, Al." They unpacked the rest of their bags and set up. Just as they were finishing, Francis knocked on the door. "Come in." Matthew said, not bothering to look up from what he was doing. The Frenchman stepped in, beaming. "I spoke with Arthur, and we've decided to throw a party. We've rented a place for the night, and everything's under control." The twins looked up, uneasy. "That's the perfect place for Romano or his mafia to strike!" Alfred replied. Matthew sighed, taken over by a wave of stress. "Someone could be kidnapped or killed or worse...we shou-" Francis stopped him, and smiled. "That's exactly why we're doing this." He mused. "Like a trap?" Alfred asked, cocking his head to the side. "Sort of." Francis said. "When is it?" Matthew questioned. "Tonight." Francis answered. "TONIGHT?" "Go on and get ready~" Francis chirped, leaving.

30 minutes later...

"This is rediculous." Matthew complained, helping Alfred with his tie. "Francis has gone absolutely mad! He's going to get someone hurt!" Alfred sighed, not choosing sides. He understood both point of views, which made living with several people could be difficult at times. Matthew put on his blazer and sighed. "I guess he knows what he's doing...he's very intelligent, but what if something goes wrong?" Matthew asked, overthinking. Alfred put an arm around his brother's shoulder. "Mattie, you think too much. Learn how to just stop worrying and take a deep breath. That anxiety's gonna catch up to you sooner or later, and it isn't pretty when that happens." He said, trying to get the other to chill out. "You're right. But no getting drunk this time. Last time you put on an improv tap dance to April Showers and then you only made things worse for yourself by staying up all night and binge watching Shirley Temple movies." The Canadian replied. "Same goes for you. You tried to go on a massacre with that precious hockey stick of yours. And that bear that comes to visit sometimes tried to hump my leg!" Alfred smirked.

At the party...

No matter how hard he tried, Ludwig couldn't be happy. Feliciano, his friends, his family...they were out there and anything could have been happening to them. All he could do was pace around. Not only that, but Francis and his love of history...the place he rented was creepy! He set his beer down and sighed. Maybe a walk would help clear his mind.


	26. 26

This attic must have been the worst room in the house. Broken glass, abandoned belongings, and...voices? Whispers, to be exact. "Hello?" Ludwig called. "PLEASE DON'T HURT ME, I'M A VIRGIN!" Ludwig bolted to the source of the voice. If his mind wasn't tricking him, that particular line was commonly used by..."FELICIANO!" Ludwig looked around as he held his love...his world. "Where are the others?" Ludwig asked, shaking slightly. "I know that Elizabeta's here, but nobody else has been up here in days..." Ludwig nodded. "Where is she?" Feliciano glanced beside him. There she was. Unconcious and bruised with a few scars here and there. Her wrist was terribly broken, too. It must have taken rediculous power and stamina to take her down, seeing that she was almost three times stronger than Ludwig. "Come on." Ludwig said, picking Liz up. "I'll get you out and look for the others." They got to the bottom of the stairs. "Stay with Liz." Ludwig whispered. Feli nodded. Ludwig walked out and searched for Francis. He found the Frenchman by the window, looking rather bored. "Francis. You won't believe it." Francis looked up. "Hm?" Ludwig signaled for Francis to follow him, and once they got to the attic door, Francis couldn't believe his eyes. "F-Feli...Liz..." He hugged the Italian and smiled. "We've missed you so much..." Ludwig sighed. "What's the plan?" Francis nodded. "I'll pass the information to the others. We'll get you to safety with Arthur, Matthew, Antonio, and Yao. Ludwig, Alfred and I will search for the others. Matthew can treat your wounds, so you won't have to stay like this for long. Once we find the others, we'll look at our options." The others nodded. "For now, I'll create a diversion while Ludwig, you get them out safely." Ludwig nodded, carrying Liz bridal style while Feliciano stayed close by. A riot broke out once they heard Francis shout something about moldy caviar and dusty paintings. In 30 minutes, they were all back together. "I've never been so discusted with myself, but besides the point. We all know what to do." Francis said. "Move out." Alfred called.

(Flashback)

Sickness...that was the only sensation Ludwig and Gilbert could feel...Roderich, who never got sick, ended up taking care of them. The apartment was cheap and a bit sketchy, but it was better than the streets. "Pneumonia and Strep..." Roderich said. Ludwig could hardly speak and Gilbert's body was doing everything in it's power to expell the fluid from his lungs and throat. Roderich would only give them room tempurature water, since anything too hot or too cold would be a risk. Ludwig huddled into his oldest brother, hearing just how hard breathing was. "G-Gilbert... please don't die..." he whispered, hoping everything would turn out alright. They had about 20 left, and Gilbert quit after his second year of highschool to help what family he had left, only ending up dropping them out of school too. "Go to sleep, Ludwig." Roderich chided, dabing away the fever. "You'll only get worse if you don't sleep." Roderich had a way with patients. If they had the money, he would have either finished his schooling and gone off to college to study music or medicine. That dream fell apart after their grandfather died. Nobody left but each other, and their distant Swiss cousin, Vash. No money. He had to use what he had to help his brothers back to health. It wasn't much, but after a few weeks of work they were fine.

(Present)

Ludwig tried to shake the memory as he suited up. He had everything he needed. "Francis, Alfred. Ready?" They nodded as Francis got his fencing sword ready. He had always been skilled with fencing, and had taken lessons when he was young. Now, he would put his skills to the test, since Romano and most of his gang used fencing as their main tactic. They got on it, leaving any fear behind. "I don't know what I'll do when I see my brothers again..." Ludwig told himself. "Gilbert. Roderich. You're going to be alright..." the trio set off, back to the party. If Feliciano and Elizabeta were kept there, chances were that they could find Gil and Roderich there, too. The guests were still rioting, with something flying here and there. Francis looked at the others. "Ludwig, check the basement. Alfred, check this floor. I'll check upstairs." They split up.

Alfred:

"Come on, Al. If you find your friends you'll be a hero..." The American whispered to himself. The hair on his neck stood up when he heard rapid footsteps behind him. When he could take it no longer, he spun around, gripping the gun in his hands tightly. There stood a young girl, about seven years old. "S-sorry...how can I help you?" Alfred asked her. "My name is Mei-Mei. I'm looking for my big brother." She stated. "Have you seen Kiku?" Alfred started to worry. "Kiku?" He asked. If things were as he thought- "Kiku. Kiku Honda. He came here since Francis is a good friend of his. One minute, he was here and then the next minute he wasn't!" Alfred kneeled down to be head-level with Mei-Mei. "I know everything will turn out ok." Nice going Al. Make a promise to the kid you know could fail. "I need to get you somewhere safe, and then I'll find your brother." Double this risk of being killed by Romano or his mafia. Both of them looked up when the door beside them clicked. Out stepped a very short man with a bottle of sake and a basket half full of bread. "Too many people..." Mei-Mei smiled and ran up to him. "Big brother!" "Oh." Alfred said to himself. Well, atleast Romano didn't have everyone he was after. That made the American feel a little better. Alfred got up and kept walking. He hoped he or someone else would find Roderich and Gilbert soon.

Francis: "Roderich...Gilbert..." Francis called in a whisper. We won't say that he wasn't afraid of being by himself, but that he was just so used to having so many meetings, peptalks, having to help someone, or even a simple chat. He hadn't been alone unless he was asleep for god knows how long...Francis looked around himself. He was going to be here for a good long while, so he decided it'd be good to be familiar with his surroundings. "M-mon dieu!" He jumped, seeing blood on the floor. At the moment, he didn't have much of a choice. Follow the blood and see where it leads. He sighed, knowing that with the amount, he would surely exit the building smelling strongly like iron. He went on until he came to a thin, pale figure. Nothing to lose. "Gilbert?" The figure looked up, groaning in pain. Francis noticed five things about this man. 1, the figure was albino. 2, the figure was worryingly thin. 3, the figure was about Francis' height. 4, the figure was covered in blood, but the worst part was his stomach. That must have been the source. 5, this figure was Gilbert. "Gilbert!" Francis carefully embraced the Prussian, trying to give him comfort and not pain. "H-hey...Francy pants..." Gilbert whispered, giving a weak but thankful smile. "Gilbert, what happened?" The blonde asked, wary of the possibilities. "T-they separated us...they knew I would-" a sharp hiss of pain. "-know the answers. They wanted to know all they could about you...they gave me a good jab for each question I refused to answer. I found some way to bandage everything." His eyes went 7 times their size. "Roderich...he needs help. I went to find help. I went to f-find something...my little brother's so sick..." he trailed of in German. A little could be understood. But he spoke so quckly and with so much pain running through him. Antonio was waiting with the car, so Francis acted quickly, asking where Roderich was and going back to the car to get Gilbert somewhere safe. "I'll get Roderich safe. For now, the others are waiting. Stay here, I'll get Roderich, and then we'll get everything together and get you back home." Gilbert nodded, and Francis was off.

Ludwig: Alfred had joined him, since there was nobody on his floor. "Wait." Ludwig cautioned. Footsteps. Someone was running. "Ludwig! Alfred!" Francis. He caught up with the duo and caught his breath. "I found Gilbert. Roderich's supposed to be down here. He's very sick and we need to get him out of here fast." The taller males nodded. Nobody was down here accept for the Austrian. "Roderich!" Nothing. "Roderich?" Still nothing. A while later, a few painful sounding coughs could be heard. Ludwig signaled for the others to follow him, and the found the man curled in on himself. Gilbert had to remove some sweaty clothes off the brunnette so he wouldn't get any worse, so he was wearing a slightly bloody, soaked through dress shirt and pants with a few blood stains. "Bruder...Wie lange müssen wir noch so leben?" It hurt all three of them to see the man in this state. "Come on." Ludwig said, picking Roderich up and carrying him bridal style. Everyone crammed themselves into the car and went home.


	27. 27

Roderich and Gilbert being taken care of by Ludwig, and Matthew was watching over Feliciano and Elizabeta. Francis was in his office. Romano had a point. Besides, it was important to know what you were fighting for. He was tired of the confusion. Why was everything going downhill? What happened to his parents? Why did Romano want the file? He shakily opened it, not believing it at all. The Bonnefoy Murder Case. "Ma mére...mon pére..." The file was in French, which Francis was greatful for. The english part of his brain didn't cooperate at times like this. The Bonnefoy family. [Filipé Jaques Bonnefoy (father, aged 37), Odette Marie Bonnefoy (mother, aged 35), Francis Pierre Bonnefoy (eldest child, aged 12) Celine Katherine Bonnefoy (middle child, aged 7) and Madeline Genevive Bonnefoy (youngest child, aged 18 months)] At the time of 12:16 (date: April 13th, 1933) the wealthy family's mansion had caught fire. The fire was started with a simple match in the library. The Mansion burned completely with only two survivors. Francis and Celine. They will be in the custody of their Father's younger brother, Pierre Henri Bonnefoy. Once Pierre passes, the eldest child, Francis, shall inherit the house and fortune. The second child, Celine, shall inherit any belongings and a third of the fortune. (Date: December 22nd, 1939) Pierre Henri Bonnefoy has passed of a fever. Francis (19) now has the mansion and two thirds of the fortune, about 70 billion usd, and Celine (15) shall inherit 30 billion usd and any remaining belongings once she is of age. As of now, she resides with her older brother. (Date: June 27th, 1943) Celine is now of age (18) and is residing in Monaco. Francis (23) remains in France. We are still trying to find our culprit of the murder of Felipé, Odette, and Madeline Bonnefoy. (Date: December 17th, 1945) "My first dinner alone with Arthur...when the so called murders started..." Francis noted. He kept reading. The man responsible for the Bonnefoy murder case is 33 year old Italian native and mafia leader, Romano Vargas. He currently resides in the outskirts of Paris, France. His younger twin brother, Feliciano, resides with Francis Bonnefoy. We know nothing else. End. The file was filled with more than the story and updates. Profiles, mugshots, pictures of everyone involved, locations, dates, and even evidence. Francis was at a loss for words. He closed the file and took in what he had just discovered. "Non...non. NON! Je refuse de croire une telle chose! ROMANO QUE MALADE, BASTARD TENDU! JUSTE VOUS ATTENDRE VOUS FILS D'UNE CHIENNE! ATTENDRE QUE VOUS AVEZ LE GOÛT DE VOTRE PROPRE MÉDECINE! Je vais le brûler ... Je vais le brûler ... Je vais le brûler comme il a brûlé ma famille ..." Everyone who could stand properly ran into the office. Matthew had seen this side of Francis before, and was more than willing to translate. "He just found out what was in the file. The murder of his parents and baby sister. He and Celine were the only two to survive. He knows who did it too. Romano Vargas burned down the Bonnefoy-Kranc manor and killed his mother, father, and baby sister Madeline." Nobody dared say a word. The boss was about to go out and find the sick monster who did this. Arthur tested his luck. His older brother, Allistair, was the same way. "Francis, love. You're going to be alright. We'll help you avenge your parent's death." He mused, embracing the taller man. Francis returned the embrace and sighed, feeling a little better. "T-thank you...Arthur."

an: that's the tea! we found out what was in the file!


End file.
